The Blues have been strongly linked with the German forward for over a year, and after failing in their bid to land the 22-year-old last summer, Leverkusen are convinced the Premier League giants have finally landed their man.

‘Andre Schurrle has probably signed a pre-contract deal with Chelsea,’ said Leverkusen’s general manager Wolfgang Holzhauser.

‘It all depends on whether we let him go. We have received a concrete offer for a fee which we are considering.

‘But the price alone is not decisive. We must also have alternatives, which we don’t have yet.’

Impressed: Bremen’s Kevin De Bruyne (Picture: EPA)

One of those alternatives is Chelsea winger Kevin de Bruyne, who has impressed on loan at Werder Bremen this season.

However, Leverkusen know they have competition to land the young Belgian from dislodged Bundesliga champions Borussia Dortmund.

‘He still has a few talks to hold with Chelsea,’ said Holzhauser.

‘It looks like there is an offer from Dortmund to sign the player for a relatively high fee.

‘According to our information, Chelsea don’t want to sell him but just loan him out.’